Left-Right Brain Research and Its Premature Generalization to the Counseling Setting

Brain lateralization research has led to speculation about counseling and guidance implications of left-right brain differences. Serious limitations in these implications are highlighted.     

Personal Versus Vocational Focus in Career Counseling: A Retrospective Outcome Study

In this archival study the authors sought to determine the relationship, if any, between counseling outcomes and the topical focus in career counseling. Twenty-two counselors saw 46 adult clients at a community-based clinic for an average of eight sessions. Counseling outcome and topical focus (the extent to which the actual content of counseling sessions reflected relatively more vocationally or personally focused topics) were assessed from follow-up questionnaires to former career clients and from trained raters' evaluations of the counselors' written progress notes. Results showed that, from the counselors' perspective, outcomes were better when the focus of the sessions was relatively more vocational than personal and when relatively more interviews were held. Client satisfaction, on the other hand, was predictable only from the counselor's level of experience. Satisfaction with occupational status was not associated with any of the client, counselor, or treatment factors. Discussion focuses on the contribution of the results to career counseling practice and on the feasibility and validity of retrospective, archival research.     

Message Derogation and Self‐Distancing Denial: Situational and Dispositional Influences on the Use of Denial to Protect Against a Threatening Message1

Five types of denial to protect against the implications of a personal health threat message (cardiovascular disease or CVD) were examined. Undergraduates (N = 150) were randomly assigned to levels of threat and difficulty, read the message, and completed measures of objective risk for CVD, optimistic denial threat orientation, measures of 1 type of message‐oriented denial (message derogation) and 4 types of self‐oriented denial, and intentions to engage in protective action. High threat and difficulty both provoked message derogation, but low threat led to more self‐oriented denial. Individual differences were evident: Those higher in optimistic denial used more self‐oriented denial and had lower intention to engage in protective actions. Self‐oriented denial mediated the relationship between optimistic denial and behavioral intentions.     

“Quo Vadis” the Scientific Study of New Religious Movements?

The study of new religious movements has been developing in recent decades in an intellectual context in which both religion and its scholarly investigation appear to be more significant and more controversial than seemed to be the case in the earliest decades of SSSR. The present paper recounts the main themes of early work on nrms in the 1970s and 80s and subsequently explores three current areas of conceptual ambiguity and/or intellectual ferment and conflict. Key contemporary issues represent 1) The Boundary Problem or what is a “new religious movement”?; 2) The growing salience of the analysis of catastrophic episodes of mass violence_involving nrms; and 3) Recent claims to the effect that scholars in the sociology of religion and religious studies who do research on nrms have been led by their strong ideological commitment to the defense of religious liberty to take up a defensive attitude toward controversial “cults” to a degree which has undermined objectivity.     

Everyday emotion word and personal pronoun use reflects dyadic adjustment among couples coping with breast cancer

Dyadic adjustment is integral for couples facing breast cancer; therefore, it is important to identify its everyday indicators. A total of 52 couples coping with breast cancer wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) for one weekend and completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale to investigate how dyadic adjustment manifests in noncancer‐related word use. Multilevel models revealed that partners', rather than one's own, positive emotion words positively related to dyadic adjustment. Conversely, spouses' negative emotion words and patients' anger words were negatively related to dyadic adjustment. Furthermore, focus on spouses rather than patients (spouses “I” and patients “you”) positively related to dyadic adjustment. Results revealed that dyadic adjustment can be reflected in couples' everyday word use, serving as an objective indicator of marital quality.     

Group Identification and University Involvement1

Campus involvement has been identified as an important predictor of academic persistence and success. We propose a group identification approach to campus involvement and present the results of 3 studies. Study 1 established that group identity was strongly related to campus involvement. Study 2 determined that group identity mediated the relationship between student residency (on‐campus vs. off‐campus) and campus involvement. Study 3 replicated the prior results, but used a longitudinal design to help rule out alternative explanations. We conclude that group identification, particularly the affective component, plays an important role in campus involvement, and offer suggestions for enhancing group identification and for further research.     

Attitudes and Perceptions of Computer Information Systems Students Toward Employment Opportunities

Understanding the attitudes and objectives of students who are potential employees represents an integral part of a recruitment strategy to attract the best students into the computer information systems (CIS) field. Using an experimental instrument consisting of 3 major sections, this study examined the attitudes and motivating factors of students selecting their first position in the CIS field. Overall, the results indicate that students perceive that they will achieve the greatest job satisfaction and motivation in large computer firms. They were evenly divided in their preferences and expectations that they work either for large computer vendors or other private industry. These results are beneficial to those involved in the CIS recruitment and hiring process.     

In Celebration of Nature: A Dialogue With Jerome Kagan

Jerome Kagan has studied the role of biology as a major determinant of human behavior for more than three decades. The results of this research have had significant impact on the field of developmental psychology and on our understanding of temperamental factors. Dr. Kagan discusses his career and the practical implications of his research.